A young man from New Norfolk is running the equivalent of 110 marathons in just 110 days to raise funds for mental health support organisation Stay ChatTY
Trent Henderson will run 42.2 kilometres every day for the next 110 days, with the aim of raising $6,000 for Stay ChatTY.
Henderson said he was inspired to take on the challenge after hearing Stay ChatTY founder Mitch McPherson speak at his high school when he was going through a tough time.
“His message when I was working through my tough times really resonated with me a few years later and I always remembered his message of always speaking up and staying chatty,” he said.
“It’s something that I’m extremely thankful for and it’s why I chose to Speak Up! Stay ChatTY to do this.”
He will be working from 6.30am to 4pm during the day, before getting home by around 4:30pm and then running for four to four and a half hours each day.
“Most of the time through the week it’ll be around the tracks of New Norfolk and then occasionally on weekends I’ll branch out and I’ll go to different locations and allow other people to make it easier for other people to be able to run with me.”
Henderson said he expects eating enough calories to be the most challenging aspect of the run.
“[It is] going to be extremely difficult for me … lots of bagels, oats and lots of bolognese,” he said.
“I am extremely confident,” he said. “I know that this is going to take every single fibre of my being to complete but I’m going to get there.”
Speak Up! Stay ChatTY founder Mitch McPherson said it was “pretty amazing” to see a “solid group” of people come together to support Henderson’s challenge.
“It’s going to be obviously a challenging few months for him, I don’t think we’ve ever seen a challenge that will go for so long so it’s going to be an interesting one to follow,” he said.
“But I always just feel really special, I get a bit emotional all these years on that people are still supporting us like that.”
